The requirement for shims is well known in the building construction industry. A common type of shim used for generations and known to people generally is the shim provided by a piece of wooden shingle. A wooden shingle has a taper and a shingle section can be inserted into the space between a window or door frame and a building wall to obtain accurate alignment of the frame with the wall.
Commonly, the shims used in the concrete construction field are made of a plastic material having substantial compressive strength and which will not rust, stain or leach. Suppliers of such shims have a number of standard products including rectangular shims available in different sizes and thicknesses. A rectangular shim is available which is shipped in strip form with individual shims being detachable from the strip by breaking the shim off from the strip at a score line. This shim strip is formed by an extrusion process and, after the product has been extruded, the strip is scored to provide the score lines between shims.
Another form of commercially-available shim is in the shape of a horseshoe wherein there is a space between a pair of legs to enable one or more of the shims to be mounted on a rod used in the construction. The shim can be of uniform thickness or be tapered.
There are many instances wherein commercially-available shims, such as those described in the preceding paragraphs are not suitable for use and an architect or builder will request a shim supplier to provide a special order of shims having the required dimensions and thickness as well as specifically-located slots or openings. Such special order shims are, of course, more expensive and it would be desirable to have a versatile multiple use shim product having a number of shims sized and arranged whereby a user may use an entire sheet of shims or parts thereof to meet the particular requirement.